The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalizes a relationship between Canadian researchers and SATT Grand Centre, which serves as a key interface between its network of researchers and companies to promote innovation in four French regions.

The MOU will spark collaboration and shared expertise between Canada and France across a range of innovative projects involving SFU's Digital Health Hub, a platform for digital health solutions within Surrey Innovation Boulevard.

“As Canada's ‘Engaged University,' SFU is keen to contribute its strengths in research, innovation and entrepreneurship to these collaborations in an effort to find creative solutions to critical global healthcare challenges,” says SFU President Andrew Petter.

The agreement paves the way for exchanges of scientific information and technology trends, including the creation of an international innovation network and startups competition, exchanges, and technology launch support in Europe. It will also set the stage for joint grant applications and the future creation of start-ups with international reach.

“As a genuine growth accelerator, SATT Grand Centre encourages innovation by researchers from the public research sector based in its regions,” says Daniel Burtin, President of SATT Grand Centre. “Our major goal within this ambitious collaboration is to share development of valorization programs or projects of mutual interest over the two continents, and to amplify the worldwide impact of our contribution to the technological progress.”

SATT Grand Centre's focus on diagnostics and medical devices strongly aligns with SFU's work in areas of technology and aging underway at the University's Gerontology Research Centre (GRC) as well as the Digital Health Hub, says Andrew Sixsmith, GRC director and AGE-WELL's co-scientific director.

“AGE-WELL's focus on driving innovation, and creating technologies and services that benefit older adults and caregivers, aligns with SATT's commitment to encouraging transfer of inventions by research teams to meet the needs of new markets. AGE-WELL has played an important role in today's agreement and will collaborate with SATT to develop and deliver needed technologies that will benefit Canadians and the global community.”

NeuroDevNet NCE's Scientific Director Dr. Daniel Goldowitz says: "NeuroDevNet looks forward to sharing made-in-Canada technologies and partnering with SATT affiliates: to improve the identification of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, to employ evidence-based interventions to assist these individuals, and to support children and families in France who are living with developmental disabilities.”

The Digital Health Hub, as part of Innovation Boulevard, will foster partnerships that take innovation in areas of health technologies and digital health in bold new directions. Technology “soft landings” and start-up incubations will follow.

“In Surrey, we are determined, creative, and take a decidedly "get it done" approach toward developing health-tech incubators and expertise for companies and researchers, to accelerate their work both at home and abroad,” says Mayor Linda Hepner. “The MOU signed today between the City of Surrey, SFU and France's SATT Grand Centre is proof that we are forging ahead with our vision for Innovation Boulevard not just locally, but internationally.”

Adds SFU Vice-President, Research Joy Johnson: “SFU is committed to improving the wellbeing of Canadians through its participation in national research initiatives, and its work with SFU Innovates' partners like Surrey Innovation Boulevard. We look forward to collaborating with France's SATT Grand Centre to extend the impact of these efforts on an international scale.”

Fast Facts:

• SATT Grand Centre (GC), as a key player in advancing technology transfer in France, has a broad ecosystem that includes seven universities, two science and technology centers, and six graduate schools. Its community spans 8,500 researchers as well as eight competitive clusters and 20 clusters of excellence across the four regions it serves.

Earth sciences researchers who are part of a CNRS-funded laboratory based at the University Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, focusing on volcanology. An MOU was signed last spring.

SFU Mathematics and Computing Science have also established connections with another CNRS-funded lab: LIMOS, with a focus on big data. A workshop partly funded by the French Consulate in Vancouver took place in France earlier this month.

• Last fall a delegation from SFU, the City of Surrey and Innovation Boulevard visited France for meetings that led to today's signing.

• AGE-WELL was instrumental in laying the groundwork for this international collaboration through its early and ongoing support and participation. As Canada's network for technology and aging, federally funded through the Networks of Centres of Excellence program, AGE-WELL will continue to be an important vehicle for this new partnership.

• NeuroDevNet is the first trans-Canada initiative dedicated to studying children's brain development from both basic and clinical perspectives.

•Innovation Boulevard, located in Surrey, B.C., is a partnership of health, business, higher education and government creating new health technologies to improve peoples' lives.

• SFU Innovates is a university-wide strategy to harness, link, and mobilize SFU's resources to drive innovation through four pillars of activity: industry/community engagement, incubation and acceleration, entrepreneurship, and social innovation.

About Simon Fraser University

As Canada's engaged university, SFU is defined by its dynamic integration of innovative education, cutting-edge research and far-reaching community engagement. SFU was founded 50 years ago with a mission to be a different kind of university—to bring an interdisciplinary approach to learning, embrace bold initiatives, and engage with communities near and far. Today, SFU is Canada's leading comprehensive research university and is ranked one of the top universities in the world. With campuses in British Columbia's three largest cities - Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey - SFU has eight faculties, delivers almost 150 programs to over 35,000 students, and boasts more than 135,000 alumni in 130 countries around the world.

Ranked by respected national surveys as one of Canada’s top three comprehensive universities for almost 20 years, Simon Fraser University is named after a famous explorer and known for its pioneering spirit.